the owners are hoping their cafe chain can go global. only time will tell. thank you for watching al jazeera america. i'm del walters in new york. "inside story" is next. and check us out 24 hours a day at aljazeera.com. soviet russia has been fighting separatists and religious extremists for decades, now the winter olympic games in this sochi are just weeks away, and terrorist threats on the "inside story." ♪ hello, i'm ray suarez. the olympic games gather

athletes, heads of state and celebrities from around the world along with hundreds of thousands of spectators, even the somewhat winter games offer a tempting target to killers who want to get the world's attention and make a political point. palestinians knew it, and in the modern age every host city has had to worry as much about security as weather, tv rights, accomodations and traffic. with the winter games just a few weeks ago, putin's russia knows the steaks are high and the threats are real. a number would like to make this into a world wide humiliation. in a surprise raid in a home in

dagestan tuesday, russians killed an islamist military leader, suspected in leading numerous attacks on russian targets. >> translator: what is happening now is proof of a hard line approach. >> the shootout comes at a time when vladimir putin faces intense international pressure over rising security concerns next month. >> translator: our task as organizers is to provide security for the participants and guests, and we are going to do everything for that. >> the collapse of the soviet union reignited separatists movements. the disputed area is roughly 500 miles sochi.

violence has spilled over in to neighboring dagestan. putin lead the second war in 1999. thousands were killed. extremist groups are now vowing to disrupt the game as payback. security services are now looking for three black windows, black widows who are looking to avenge their husbands. >> translator: the russian president has repeatedly stated that he will ensure security at the olympic games. special staff are operating, including representatives of all of the states who's athletes will participate. >> dagestan, an islamic

organization has come out and threatened to attack the world event. >> translator: as to your olympics, which you want so much, we have prepared if god permits for you a present there, and for the tourists who will come, there will also be a gift for the tourists if god permits. if you hold the olympics, we will make a present on our part for all of the muslim blood being innocently spilled around the entire world. >> these members claimed responsible for two bombs that killed 34 people last month. russian authorities say 37,000 security personnel will guard the olympic area. threatening groups say other parts of russia are targets too. for some, putin's reassurances are not enough. one critic is republican

representative mike rogers. >> i am very concerned about the security status of the olympics. i do believe that the russian government needs to be more cooperative with the united states when it comes to the security of the games. we have found a departure of cooperation that is very concerning to me. we don't seem to be getting all of the information we need to protect our athletes in -- in the games >> the u.s. is offering to help with security. the pentagon said in a statement monday . . . an estimated 15,000 americans are planning on traveling to see the games. the opening ceremony is friday,

february 7th. ♪ >> what are the factors that play into a successful staging of a modern olympics? are tightly controlled ott her to tearian societies at an advantage. societies as varietied as the uk, and australia have managed to hold the games. joining us to look at russia, the olympics and security, are the chief operating officer of the joint terrorism task force for the fbi. in our washington, d.c. studio, glenn howard, president of the jamestown foundation, and from virginia beach, virginia, a professor of history in

virginia. she was a u.s. assist important cultural attache in moscow. given everything we know about these events, is it just getting harder to protect a gathering of that many people from that many places? >> well, it's always difficult to protect that many people, and especially something like the olympics where you have multiple venues spread out in different parts of the country. the ice arena, the skiing slopes in another area, but i would say overall in some ways these venues are going to be the easiest to protect in that they are going to have a very tight perimeter and as you referred to this ring of steel set up around them. what becomes extremely difficult in major events like this, is that you have not only the games themselves, the events, but you

have all of these side projects like fan zones, and soft targets like hotels and restaurants, and it's not just going to the games. people go there to experience a whole range of activities, and this becomes very difficult to protect everyone at every place that they would want to go. >> so is there a kind of tension between being opened and being closed? if you look back at the list of recent venues, london, melbourne, vancouver. these are dense highly built up places. >> it can be very challenging, and that's the secret when you have special represents like the olympics or world cup soccer. anything where you want the fans to enjoy themselves, and not feel like they are being treated like prisoners. so that's one hand. and then on the other hand you have to take enough protective

measures, for example, screening withment bomb dogs, and searching lady's purses and backpa backpacks, and things that can be invasive, so you want to be invasive enough to protect the general public, but not so much overly invasive where it kills the spirit of the games. and a lot of times the organizers of the events can be at odds with the security people, because sometimes those two ideas are opposing one another. >> are there particular challenges in russia, given its recent past? >> well, i think people fail to take into mind that the sochi olympics is in this the north caucuses. it is also in the warmest place of russia on the black sea, and as putin described, they are calling it the ring of steel.

they put about 50,000 men there to protect the olympics. but it's in a region that a fraught with conflict. so there is -- we're not talking about literally dozens or hundreds, but potentially thousands of fighters, and i think it would be relatively easy for them to strike. there were over 100,000 labors have been brought into sochi in the last few years to help with the construction. and 14,000 electricians from all over russia. how are they vetting all of these people? i think the russian approach has been basically that approaching a military operation, rather than a counter terrorism guarantee. >> it almost sounds like you are saying the international olympic

committee didn't take enough account of where sochi was before making that choice? >> i think it was. this is as important to putin as it was for hitler. they are trying to showcase the new russia, and i think many of the people that signed off on this, i think a lot of questions are occurring now, and i think what you have seen with this latest outburst from congress is there are a lot of questions being raised now, especially with what happened in benghazi, and i think a lot of people are asking these questions about what is happening, and whether we're putting 15,000 potential visiting americans -- how are we going to protect those people? and there are a lot of gaps. >> professor you heard glen howard touch on it briefly, but this is not just another liolymc

games. isn't this post-russia's coming out party? and a lot of pressure to prove it is a success. >> certainly. it is the most expensive winter games ever staged with the cost of $61 billion. and that may have been why they were able to get these games. and i think if you think about it in that regard, even if there is terrorist action, the fact that right now we're sitting here talking about terrorism, rather than any other aspect of the olympics means that to some degree the terrorists are already starting to get what they wanted, which is to have this be the olympics that was about terrorism rather than about the new russia. >> is there some pressure on

russia not to take outside help even with the offers that are coming from around the world, to show it can do this on its own? >> well, if you look at the demands that have historically been made by this group, they made a statement after the boston marathon bombing where they said they had nothing to do with it, first of all, but they also said, we do not have a -- a beef against the western world, if you will. we're not at war with the united states. we're only at war with russia. so it may be that part of the reason that putin is not looking for outside help in the same way is because he does regard this perhaps largely as an internal conflict. >> when we come back, we'll talk more about that part of the world and its recent history, why there is so much restlessness in the north caucuses.

this is "inside story." real reporting that brings you the world. giving you a real global perspective like no other can. real reporting from around the world. this is what we do. al jazeera america. is, because the demand is driving the poaching. credit to namibia, but should we be selling permits for the world's most endangered animals because someday wants to shoot one of them. what if somebody wants to shoot a sigh we areian tiger or asian he will insanity if these folks at the safari club want to contribute to

namibia's good programs, they don't need to link their contribution to the killing of an animal, just give the money. that's what advocates do every day. >> one last quick question, where do you stand on elephants and their tusks? you justify talked about the value of rhinoceros horns and trying to fight that demand. how about elephant tusks? the u.s. and chinese governments

they have fought seven wars and chechens have fought with the russians. on the shores of sochi you have groups who have fought with the russians and many were wiped out, the first genocide of over the in what they call the first 19th senator. genocide of 19th century. this there whole area is so blood soaked, these groups have soaked that there have been a whole list of people that have appeared for some level of self aspired for some determination. national the in the 1990's, and from and that was crushed in chechnya in since threaten chechnya has so from -- evolved from the north caucasus. sochi -- sochi sochi is basically an island. island in a sea of -- of an island in ethnic and unrest unrest by these people for people who have lost their rights. losing their rights and level of self determination and putin is determined to revive determined to russia, and people forget that

russia is a multi-ethnic russia is a multi and still ethnic empire. >> and it's always been that way their own these people didn't want to remain russians, yet there they didn't want to remain are and were kept inside by and yet there they are, and were kept inside by pretty brutal war. was several government tried, was self government tried? was it offered? was offered, was some offering at any point? >> well what happened after the breakup of the offered? there >> there were two chechen wars, one in 1994 and one in 199. in the second chechen war there were foreign fight whose came in to fight in that conflict coming wars. and from other foreign fighters islamist lands. fight the conflict. at that point it stopped being and at that point it stopped being kind of purely an internal conflict, conflict, and fear by if they were to offer autonomy if they were to this group they would like to of autonomy to implement sharia law and there

would likely implement would be a base for islamic law and base for the caucasus extremism within the . so really it's it's quite the dilemma for the russian government as to how to the they should treat this territory. it's not really the >> over the last dozen years georgia or since the 9/11 terrorist >> over the last dozen attacks, the idea of networks theed in of and transnational movements have dominated the discussion of how transnational movements have dominated the the world responds to this. the world is this a particularly sensitive is this part of the world for those part kinds of kinds threats, and are other governments around the world watching closely of what is happening now? governments around >> absolutely they're watching watching closely. >> we've seen this with other groups that have started off closely. and there with local groups that are have started off really concerned with regional that are really issues. back regional issues. back even in the late in the late there were a lot of people looking at al-qaeda

90 90's and we don't alqaida. they didn't need to worry about what al-qaeda because it was just a with this local group interested in the events of the middle east. because it's just a local group that look at what happened years later. east, and years later this organization ha morphed and split and has morphed and formed and split and has funding. you may have a local situation now but who knows what the future is so who knows what the future is going to bring, going to bring. obviously the concern of what is going on with chechnya and >> so at a time like this would parts of the other security services be >> at a time watching even if they don't feel other security services be that they're directly implicated watching even if they don't feel they are directly implicated in with what is going on in the what caucasus. >> yes, they're watching, and caucuses? >> of course they would be watching, more over, they should be participating. they should be and russian should be inviting and others to participate in the collection of intelligence, but reluctant in inviting other people realize the olympics, it's in but the olympics

russia's backyard, but the olympics belong to the world, russian's backyard, but the this is a world event, and it's olympics belong to everyone's responsibility to and it's everybody's make sure that the games come responsibility to make sure these off safely and securely and the security and the athletes and fans u.s. the e.u. the russians, so everyone has a dog in this fight, that's where mechanism everybody has a dog in this fight, needs to be working in over drive, not just collection, but sharing that information with intelligence mechanism needs to be one another to make sure that not all these dots are being properly connected. that information with each >> what is at stake for russia other. >> what is at stake for and the rest of the world, we're and the rest of the going to take a break and when we're going to take a break and when we come we come back we'll talk about about the olympics and other big events of its kind moving forward. and ere big events of this kind

♪ welcome back to "inside story." i'm ray suarez. the olympic games are supposed

to unite the world in the spirit of athletic competition and sportsmanship. but the modern reality of extremism is threatening the games next month in russia. security in sochi, still with us, don berrelli, glen howard, and from virginia beach, virginia, mary manjikian. the united states is sharing some very sophisticated technology with the russians. tell us what you know. >> it was announced that the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff was in moscow and we offered to provide the russians with technology and countering leds. so this is really a big

development. and i remain skeptical whether they could actually transfer the technology. but i think what is hanging over the obama administration is the shadow of benghazi. they want to try to do everything possible to provide security to the american athletes. but it is said that the russians are not providing organizational details to the united states. and this was a major source of problem for the united states, because we war trying to get this information, and the announcement of the two warships, is part of that. so this, combined with the ied's that the united states is

offering, is really trying to go to all ever fort to get russian exknowledge. >> don it is happening even at a time when the two countries are at logger heads in other areas. but hear we are. what do you make of it? >> i mean, this is what it takes for a -- a -- an event like the olympics to be successful in terms of a counter terrorism effort. not one -- any one country even the united states when we have the olympics here, we have other countries help out, and that's what it takes to be successful, so i'm not surprised that we are deploying assets to russia, and if we look back at what happened even with boston, when they had the bombing during the marathon, yes, we got some information from the russians, but in my opinion it was not complete.

and had we had more full disclosure we might have been able to stop that attack. so this is also a lesson learned from boston that not only do we have to get that intelligence information, but share it in a manner in which we can about on it. >> so processor, even though the two countries are rivals in various places around the world, and around various causes, it would be a loss for the united states too if there was a successful attack in sochi? >> certainly it would be a loss for the united states if any of our own people were injured, but yeah, i think the whole international community would certainly suffer. we have no reason to believe that these terrorists would be specifically targeting americans or even necessarily high-profile people. practically everyone who has been targeted so far has been russian policemen, a member of

the ministry of interior, but certainly any loss would be tragic for russia and the whole international community. >> help us understand a little bit before we close some of the logic. the world would react with revulsion almost uniformly. countries in all different idealogical camps would decry a successful attack against the olympics. how do you win if you pull something like that off? and what is the discreet audience for whom an act like that is performed? >> well, the thing about olympics that any of these international sporting events, whether it's the olympics or world cup, is that nay are large symbolic event, and that's what terrorists want, something that will get their names in the newspaper and on the news.

i bet after people watch tv tonight, people will know about dagestan more than ever before. dagestan has a website, and when i tried to go on their website, i couldn't get on. i don't know if russia has managed to shut down the website or if it has literally crashed because of all of the newspaper reporters that want to hear their side of the story. so in that sense, they are -- they are profitting from this. >> professor thanks a lot, and thank to both of you, and all of you watching today. that brings us to the end of this edition of "inside story." see you next time. ♪

welcome to al jazeera america. i'm del walters. these are the stories we are following for you. >> bashar al-assad will not be part of that transition government. >> world leaders gathering to discuss ending syria's bloody civil war, and there are already disagreements on how to make peace. chaos and death in the streets of kiev. crowds protesting the ukrainian government clashing once again with